Rahul Gandhi takes Vote Theft battle to Rashtrapati Bhavan, plans appeal to CJI on Monday
New Delhi, Oct 9 (UNI) Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday spearheaded the INDIA bloc's escalating confrontation with the Election Commission of India (ECI), leading opposition MPs to Rashtrapati Bhavan with a demand for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation, an immediate halt to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the restoration of 13.8 crore voters allegedly deleted from the lists.
Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, union Home Minister Amit Shah and Kumar of having "ruined democracy", Gandhi announced that the opposition would submit a separate memorandum to the Chief Justice of India on Monday, widening its campaign against the poll panel to the country's highest constitutional and judicial authorities. Gandhi led opposition MPs from Parliament towards Rashtrapati Bhavan to submit a memorandum to President Droupadi Murmu, seeking her intervention over what the INDIA bloc described as electoral irregularities and institutional bias within the Election Commission.
A 10-member delegation, comprising Gandhi, Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, among others, was allowed to meet the President, while other opposition MPs continued their protest along Kartavya Path.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Gandhi said the opposition would present evidence of alleged "vote chori" to the President. He indicated that the delegation had conveyed its concerns and that the President had not dismissed the issues raised by the leaders. Announcing the next step in the campaign, he said the INDIA bloc would approach the Chief Justice of India on Monday with a separate memorandum, seeking to bring the controversy surrounding electoral roll revision and the Election Commission's functioning under wider institutional scrutiny.
The opposition's principal demands include Kumar's resignation, suspension of the SIR exercise, restoration of the names of 13.8 crore voters allegedly removed from electoral rolls, a return to paper ballots in place of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), and repeal of a legal provision that the bloc says grants lifelong immunity to the Chief Election Commissioner.
The opposition maintains that electoral roll revision without adequate transparency, verification and safeguards risks disenfranchising eligible citizens and undermining public confidence in the electoral process. The march followed a strategy meeting of opposition MPs in the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan, the former Parliament building, where leaders finalised their approach and representatives of 16 parties signed the memorandum. Around 150 INDIA bloc MPs were reported to have assembled for the meeting before Gandhi led the march towards Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Carrying placards and raising slogans accusing the Election Commission of facilitating "vote chori", the MPs demanded presidential intervention. Those not included in the delegation permitted to meet the President were stopped by police near Vijay Chowk, according to reports, while some continued their protest through a sit-in on Kartavya Path. Among the slogans displayed on placards was "Gyanesh, It's Done Bro!", a direct message to the Chief Election Commissioner amid mounting opposition demands for his resignation. Kharge, speaking before the presidential meeting, argued that the opposition's campaign was directed not merely against Kumar but also against what it alleged was the political influence shaping the functioning of the poll panel.
"Gyanesh Kumar is a small fish, but behind him are Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and their government," he said, accusing the union government of seeking to deprive citizens of their rights and establish authoritarian rule. "If dictatorship comes, democracy will end, and with it the Constitution and all our rights. We are fighting for democracy, the Constitution and the interests of the people," Kharge said. He maintained that the right to vote was central to representative government and warned that any erosion of that right would threaten the country's constitutional framework.
After meeting President Murmu, Kharge reiterated the opposition's demand that elections be conducted using traditional ballot papers instead of EVMs. He said the delegation had sought to explain that elected representatives derived their authority from the electorate and that protecting citizens' voting rights was indispensable to democracy. Banerjee, who was part of the delegation, said the opposition would provide evidence of alleged vote theft and indicated that the President had assured the leaders that their concerns would be considered. Her remarks reinforced Gandhi's announcement that the bloc would continue pursuing the matter through representations to constitutional authorities.
Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Kumar Jha also accused the Election Commission of institutional bias, arguing that the opposition wanted what he described as a structure of dishonesty dismantled. "The demand is the same as that of the entire country: to dismantle the entire structure of dishonesty, and Gyanesh Kumar is standing like a shield," he said. The confrontation comes amid a broader political dispute over the SIR exercise, through which the Election Commission is undertaking an intensive revision of electoral rolls.
Opposition parties have questioned the scale, procedures and safeguards governing the process, arguing that the deletion of names and the burden of proving eligibility could place genuine voters at risk of exclusion. They have demanded that the exercise be suspended and that the names of eligible citizens wrongly removed from the rolls be restored. Gandhi's proposed memorandum to the Chief Justice of India on Monday is set to mark the next phase of the campaign. Having taken its grievances to President Murmu, the opposition now intends to approach the judiciary, seeking wider scrutiny of the Election Commission's functioning and the conduct of the SIR exercise. The move also places Gandhi at the forefront of the INDIA bloc's attempt to turn its allegations of electoral irregularities into a sustained constitutional and political challenge.
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